China’s Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) is preparing to release detailed regulations for the cosmetic industry, to work towards standardizing international e-commerce processes. This is becoming increasingly important, as China is quickly evolving into the largest skin care market in Asia. In fact, the country is the world’s second largest cosmetics market, trailing behind only America.
By 2017, the total volume of retail sales in the Chinese cosmetic market is expected to reach RMB245.3 billion. Constantly changing regulations have been difficult for companies to keep up with, but if they want to do business in China, they must comply. The AQSIQ requires beauty items to be listed in a catalog of imported items manufactured by foreign companies, complete with details on product origins.
AQSIQ Presents Stringent Standards to Sell Beauty Products in China
Some of the new regulations foreign cosmetic and food companies will face to do business in China include:
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Qualification Certificates
The AQSIQ will conduct an inspection of all cosmetics and food products imported into the country for commercial purposes. A total of 5% of low-risk items, 10% of medium-risk goods and 20% of high-risk products will be tested in a laboratory. Companies are required to have the proper qualification certificates to import these products.
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Creation of Databases
The regulatory organization plans to implement international databases for commercial food and cosmetic products, requiring foreign companies to use a Chinese registered company as a legal-bearing agent. Companies that do not adhere to these standards will be blacklisted.
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Mandatory Recalls
Products with quality or safety issues must be recalled and the completion of a full safety report will be required. The company must then take action to correct the problem, protect customers from harm and get rid of the defective items.
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Batch Inspections
AQSIQ says it will focus its efforts on inspecting and quarantining products in batches prior to releasing them to importers. Plant-based products, such as natural and organic cosmetics, will receive inspection under an expedited process.
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